South Carolina women's basketball: A'ja Wilson says Joyce Edwards reminds her of herself

Sometime shortly before noon on Sunday morning, A’ja Wilson’s jersey will be unveiled in the rafters at Colonial Life Arena. Then she will settle in to watch South Carolina play Auburn and perhaps see a player who will join her as the best Gamecocks ever.

“Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!” Wilson says. “Coach Staley really told me to check out Joyce.”

Wilson is South Carolina’s all-time leading scorer. She was the first player in program history to earn national player of the year honors and led the Gamecocks to their first national championship. 

Wilson graduated as the best player in program history. Aliyah Boston later joined the conversation. Boston is South Carolina’s all-time leading rebounder who also won national player of the year awards and led the Gamecocks to a national championship.

However you break it down, Wilson and Boston are the best players in program history. It’s those two and everybody else. Wilson already has a statue outside Colonial Life Arena (on Saturday, Dawn Staley campaigned to add a statue for Boston), and the retired jersey feels like a mere formality after the five-year waiting period. It will be the same when Boston becomes eligible.

Everyone seems to think freshman Joyce Edwards will eventually join that group.

“Joyce is going to be the best player in college basketball one day,” Staley said after Edwards led South Carolina to a win over no. 5 LSU. “I don’t know if that’s what she wants to do, but she’s like, very Aliyah-like, when it comes to what she pours into her game. So a lot of times, basketball will pay you, and it’s such a way that that you become the best player in the country.”

Boston and Wilson have a legendary work ethic. After Boston missed a potential game-winning layup in the Final Four, she spent the summer working on her footwork with Hall-of-Famer Tim Duncan. The next season she earned Player of the Year honors and won a championship.

When Wilson got outmuscled at the McDonald’s All-America Game, she spent the summer in the weight room. By the beginning of the basketball season, she had bulked up so much that I asked how much muscle she had added.

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“They won’t let me weigh myself because they don’t want me to see it,” Wilson said. Edwards is cut from that same cloth.

“Joyce’s work ethic is unmatched,” Staley said after the Oklahoma game. “It’s borderline too much. She’s driven. She only knows one way. She works out after practice, and I know she’s in there with her dad in between. That’s just who she is. I wanted her not be in the gym so much. I do. But that’s her makeup.”

Wilson was also impressed by Edwards’ work ethic but said that what stands out to her the most is how Edwards sees the game.

“Obviously getting in the gym and sharpening her tools are going to be so key,” Wilson said, “but to have that patience and that IQ right now and understanding how to read the defense and how you’re being played. That is what you don’t learn probably until you’re in the pros and you’re seeing different coverages and different things like that.”

That extends to how Edwards watches film. After she scored 18 points against Tennessee, her fourth straight game leading South Carolina in scoring, Edwards said the first thing she does after games is watch film.

“Usually after the game I look at all my mistakes,” Edwards said.

“She’s going to be perfect,” Wilson said. “Even though she’s a homegrown kid, I’m so glad that she came here because no one gets you ready, no one can prep your mind for the next level other than Coach Staley. She’s in the right hands. She’s got a great group around her. She’s going to be good.”

Their freshman numbers are similar. With a little over a month left in the season, Edwards is averaging 12.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in 20.5 minutes, coming off the bench in all but one game. As a freshman, Wilson averaged 13.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks in 19.8 minutes, with just one start.

Edwards and Wilson also played similar roles as freshmen. They joined established, winning teams (Edwards joined the reigning national champions and Wilson joined the reigning SEC champions) and took secondary roles to returning players. And their talent still rose to the top. 

“I’m just out there, just playing,” Edwards said. “I’m not necessarily looking to score, but I’m just doing what the defenders are giving me. My teammates are always there hyping me up, too, so the support is there from my teammates and my coaches.”

I asked Wilson if Edwards reminded her of herself as a freshman. Wilson smirked a little and then answered with a sly grin that could only come from a three-time MVP, two-time gold medalist, the best player in the world.

“I do see a little bit of myself in Joyce. And that’s pretty gooood.”

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